The government of Chad has issued a stern ultimatum to mobile operators Airtel and Moov Africa, demanding that they connect to the country’s national fibre-optic backbone within seven days or face potential sanctions.
The directive followed a meeting between Telecommunications Minister Boukar Michel and executives from both companies amid ongoing frustrations over network performance.
The government’s concerns stem in part from the estimated 1,275km of fibre optic cable deployed under its Communications Infrastructure Modernisation and Improvement Project (PMICE), which aims to enhance network reliability across the nation. Despite these infrastructure investments, public expectations for improved communication services are growing, yet consumers continue to report outages, unstable internet connections, and low service quality, all while experiencing high tariffs.
Regulatory dissatisfaction with service quality is a broader trend across sub-Saharan Africa, with recent fines and sanctions reported in countries such as Zambia, Togo, and Guinea. Despite infrastructure improvements, many consumers and regulators remain concerned about the reliability and coverage of mobile networks in the region.
